With less than seven minutes to play in Friday night's game against Suffield, the Enfield High School boys basketball team faced the real possibility of losing its chance for a second straight undefeated regular season.
Suffield led 36-31 more than a minute into the fourth quarter, but the Raiders embarked on a 17-5 run that carried them to a 50-47 victory and retained their unblemished record at the midway point of the campaign.
Ra Preston, who had struggled from the field early in the game, tallied eight points during Enfield's decisive stretch, and finished with 16 in the game.
"They definitely were not falling for him, but I liked that in the fourth quarter he stepped it up, hit a bunch of shots and grabbed a bunch of rebounds," Enfield head coach Cory O'Connell said.
Paul Lima also contributed 16 points to the Raiders' offense.
Suffield's Tyron Williams led all scorers with 25 points. Nolan McCoy added 10 points for the Wildcats.
"It was a good close game between two good teams," Suffield coach Dan Gatto said. "The first half was even, but in the second half they executed just a bit better and we turned it over too much in the fourth quarter."
Both teams return to action Tuesday at 7 p.m. Enfield (10-0) hosts Canton, while Suffield (5-5) travels to Windsor Locks.